Jan 25th: Blessed Are the Gentle in a Heartless World, with Rev. Dr. Steven Koski.
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Blessed Are the Gentle in a Heartless World with Rev. Dr. Steven Koski. Series: Standalone Services A Spacious Christianity, First Presbyterian Church of Bend, Oregon. Scripture: Proverbs 4:23.
Curious about a different way to live in such an outraged world? Join us this Sunday, online or in person, as we explore Jesus’ upside-down promise, “Blessed are the meek.” Come hear a hopeful word about gentle strength, guarding your heart, and walking for peace, one small step at a time.
Transcript:
Steven: Proverbs, 423, says, guard your heart above all else, for everything you do flows from your heart that feels like essential wisdom right now, guard your heart, because so much of life these days, honestly, is heartbreaking. Jesus preached an upside down wisdom found in the Gospel of Matthew called the Beatitudes. And let’s be honest, the world feels upside down right now. So maybe the upside down wisdom of Jesus might help us see things right side up again today’s word comes from Matthew, chapter five, verse five, Blessed are the meek the gentle of heart, for they shall inherit the earth. Wait a minute. What Blessed are the meek the gentle of heart. You know, I hear that, and I immediately think of Tom Hanks in the movie a league of the road. He’s a baseball coach, and he’s barking at one of his players. Are you crying? There’s no crying in baseball. Translation, if you want to win, you can’t be soft. And hasn’t that been the message everywhere lately, don’t be soft. Don’t be gentle. Be loud. Be Sharp. Be outraged. Might makes right is the wisdom or the lack thereof of those in power. It’s been a tough start to the new year, right? I found myself in tears this week talking with one of you, just just naming the weight of it, all the grief, the the anger, the the losses we’re carrying, the pain of the most vulnerable, the enormity of the challenges in front of us, a word I keep hearing from so many of you for so many different reasons, is outrage, and honestly, That makes sense if you’re outraged right now. It means your soul is awake. It means you not only care, you care deeply. But what I’ve noticed in myself and and in others is is how easily outrage slips into something more sinister. How outrage can can harden into bitterness, how it can can curdle into contempt, how it can quietly turn into despair. So outrage may be a sign, yet your soul is awake, but hate, bitterness, despair will slowly eat your soul alive. Do you remember the wisdom from Proverbs guard your heart above all else, for everything you do flows from your heart. There is, there is so much to be outraged about right now. The spiritual challenge is not whether we feel outrage. The challenge is whether our spirits, our hearts, become a mirror of the very ugliness we oppose. Because when we reflect the same spirit we’re fighting against, everyone loses. I’m not saying outrage is wrong. Sometimes it’s necessary, if sometimes outrage is holy. The deeper question is this, are we shining light into the darkness or simply reflecting the darkness back Jesus calls us to be an expression of God’s love in the world precisely when it would be so much easier to hate, So much easier to judge, to condemn. That kind of of life, that kind of love, can only come from humility, from staying staying rooted in the goodness at the core of who we are, from trusting. Really trusting that goodness is stronger than evil, that love is stronger than hate, that light is stronger than darkness. Blessed are the meek. Jesus says blessed are the gentle of heart. And now, when we hear the word meek, we we usually think of timid or weak, a doormat, and when we hear of gentle of heart, we imagine fragile someone, someone you have to handle carefully. But Jesus is not calling us to be timid. He’s not calling us to be fragile. Jesus himself was neither timid or fragile. The Greek word used here for Meek prows had a very different meaning in Jesus’ time. It was actually was used often to describe someone, someone with great power, who deliberately chose not to use their power to harm others. It was a word used to describe, for example, a king, you know, a king who could easily crush an enemy, but instead chose mercy, a king who had the power to enact revenge and retaliation, but instead chose forgiveness and reconciliation. The word meek in the time of Jesus meant authority, restrained by love, meekness in the way Jesus means. It is not weakness. It is strength under control. It is power shaped by compassion. It is the courage to choose vulnerability and humility, as Dr King reminds us, true strength is not found in Domination, but in the disciplined love that refuses to mirror hatred. The non violent heart is not passive, but actively resists evil with a love strong enough to transform it. Think about Jesus on the cross. I mean, he couldn’t have looked more weak and vulnerable, beaten. They mocked him. They spit on Him, they laughed at him. They said, some king you are. And yet, with his final breath, Jesus looks at the ones who nailed him there and says, Father, forgive them. That is power, that is strength, that is meekness. Guard your heart above all else, for everything you do flows from your heart. La nost wrote, preserving, preserving a gentle spirit in a heartless world takes extraordinary courage, determination, resilience. Do not underestimate the power of gentleness, because gentleness is strength wrapped in peace. Which brings me to something I can’t stop thinking about across America right now, quietly, patiently, almost unnoticed. At first, a small group of Buddhist monks are walking, no banners, no slogans, no shouting into the air, just gentle footsteps. They’re walking more than 2300 miles over 120 days from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington, DC, bare feet on pavement day after day, rising early, walking mindfully, continuing regardless of weather, fatigue or distance. They are not protesting. They are not arguing. They’re not trying to convince anyone of anything.
They are simply. Are walking for peace, and something extraordinary is happening. People stop what they’re doing. Strangers stand silently on sidewalks as the monks pass, some cry, some bow. Some walk alongside them for a few steps, as if borrowing a little calm for the road ahead. Some hold handmade signs that that simply say thank you. There is no force here, no no demand, only peaceful presence you know in a world addicted to noise, their silence feels radical. In a culture obsessed with winning arguments, their humility feels revolutionary in a world convinced that might makes right, their steady, prayerful steps remind us that the most faithful power is not one that conquers, but one that cares deeply and refuses to harm and walking beside them is a loka, A rescued dog, gentle, steady, loyal, no agenda, no ego, just calm companionship, as if peace itself decided to walk on four legs too. And here’s what strikes me, this is meekness made visible. They have no institutional power, no microphone, no army. And yet their presence is changing the emotional temperature of the spaces they move through. Highways become places of reflection, city streets become moments of shared humanity. This is what Jesus is talking about. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth, not by force, not by domination, but by peaceful presence, by humility, by gentleness that refuses to harden. The Buddha taught that hatred is never ended by hatred, only by love and understanding. Jesus said the very same thing in different words. If your belief system makes you less compassionate, question your belief, not your humanity, any faith, any ideology, any political policy, any certainty that costs you empathy, has lost its way. This is not about religion alone. This is about what kind of people we are becoming, whether we will choose peace over fear Compassion Over cruelty and the slow, difficult work of love over the easy power of harm. The monks aren’t trying to change your opinion. They’re trying to change your heart, or maybe better said, they’re reminding you of the heart you already have their walk is medicine for anxious minds, a mirror for divided hearts, a quiet reminder that peace is Not an idea. It’s a discipline, a daily choice. Peace is not something we wait for when, when life finally settles down, peace is something we practice while life is still hard, when your feet hit the floor in the morning. You’re already at the starting line. Walk for peace in how you speak, walk for peace in how you react. Walk for peace in how you treat strangers. Walk for peace in how you treat yourself. No robes required, Jesus’ promise still stands. The meek, the gentle of heart, will inherit the earth, not because we’re passive, but because we refuse to let the world steal our soul. Friends, guard your hearts above all else, choose gentleness over urgency. Choose choose humility over ego. Choose love that is strong enough to forgive, because in a heartless world, a gentle heart is not weak. It’s revolutionary, and it just might be how the world is healed one step at a time. May it be so?
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